


Everything They Said

by sunaddicted



Series: The way you said "I love you" [16]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Character Study, Developing Relationship, F/M, Lack of Communication, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Relationship Study, Self-Doubt, Tired Bruce Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27505033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: [...]contrary to popular belief, Bruce did know how to pick his battles[...]
Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Bruce Wayne, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Clark Kent, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Series: The way you said "I love you" [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573432
Comments: 4
Kudos: 78





	Everything They Said

**Author's Note:**

> "not to me"

_ Everything They Said _

Bruce was perfectly aware of the fact that, more often than not, he was the cause of his own pain: between his obsession with the Mission and his own personal issues, it was frighteningly easy for him to sabotage his own happiness - sometimes intentionally and sometimes completely unaware of what he was doing.

Still, Bruce blamed no-one else but himself, which meant that he tended to bury whatever pain and disappointment he felt deep in the dark and dusky corners of his heart, moving on without wasting time on crying over spilled milk.

He was practical like that, even when it came to his feelings.

So, whenever Clark and Diana brazenly declared their love for one another in front of him or within earshot, Bruce reminded himself that he had no business being angry and hurt about it: he was the one who constantly grouched about how unprofessional it was of them to get entangled together in such a way when the fate of the Earth hinged upon their friendship and cooperation; he was the one who left the bed warmed by their superhuman bodies whenever the afterglow faded, as if he was left completely untouched by their affection; he was the one who turned down dates, whether they be at ice cream parlors in their civilian personas or sharing cake in the breakroom at the Watchtower, their costumes only half-donned on.

For all intents and purposes, Bruce's behaviour broadcast the message that he was in it only for the glorious sex and the stress-relief it brought - certainly not for the romance that Clark and Diana had thrown themselves in with an ease that Bruce had never felt about anything in his whole life.

Not even loving his children had been easy.

Not that it was the kind of thing Bruce paraded around, ashamed as he was of how emotionally stunted he could be.

How  _ damaged _ .

Bruce sighed, fingers rising to his temples to massage them; the pressure didn't bring h9m as much relief as it could have if only he had shucked the cowl for monitor duty - but that would have entailed baring himself when he was in pain and feeling vulnerable. Not that Clark or Diana or literally any other of their teammates would have been able to see past the scowl on his face, chalking it up to one of his infamous foul moods.

"Coffee?"

Bruce raised his head, ignoring how the movement sent a stab of pain through his brain, to settle behind his eyes in a way that made Bruce fear that nothing less than a hefty dose of painkillers and a good night of sleep could take care of - he couldn't afford either: he didn't particularly like taking heavy-duty painkillers and a full night of sleep was just impossible to indulge in when he had Gotham to take care of.

The coffee would have to do.

"Please"

"I'll text Diana" Clark hummed, fingers literally  _ flying _ over the screen of his phone while he sat on the chair that had been momentarily vacated by Bruce's monitor duty partner "Where is Barry?"

"Emergency in Central City - just Capitan Cold, he could handle it on his own"

The harsh edge to Bruce's voice would have made Clark shake his head with a mix of hilarity and annoyance, if he hadn't known better: Bruce always sounded harsher when he was on the defensive, as if he had expected to be scolded for letting Flash handle on his own one of his Rogues - a human one at that - and on his very own turf "How is it going?" Clark inquired, nodding towards the comms Bruce had abandoned on the table.

"They're on their way to Iron Heights" Bruce brought up one of the cameras that was following the police cruiser in which Flash had stuffed himself and Snart both - he couldn't really blame Barry for wasting time in such a way, rather than speeding them both to Iron Heights: that afternoon had been dragging, inexorably slow.

Even Bruce was itching for the shift to be over.

Clark smirked "The flirting was starting to get embarrassing, wasn't it?"

"I thought he was listening to me when we had the talk" nobody had asked him to talk to Barry, of course - nobody really thought that the flirting between Flash and Captain Cold was something to worry about - but it had been quite obvious that if anyone was going to do it, the responsibility would fall upon the actual dad of the group.

No matter that Bruce's track record as a father was everything but stellar.

Sometimes he really hated being the responsible one.

Well, Diana was responsible too but she also was so hopelessly romantic.

"I think he doesn't even do it on purpose" Clark offered in consolation, reaching out to caress the slope of Bruce's shoulder, tense beneath the Kevlar; he would never understand why the other didn't wear a more comfortable suit for monitor duty, it wasn't like Bruce couldn't change into a heavy-duty one so fast that it made Clark genuinely question whether Bruce actually had some powers of his own.

"I don't think that sounded as comforting as you thought it would" still, Bruce slightly leaned into the other's touch, his inhuman warmth bleeding even through the Kevlar.

"Sorry, B."

The nickname was a gentle balm over his heart - though he supposed that it was impossible to sleep with your best friend and not even let a pet name slip by. It wasn't the same as the words Clark and Diana exchanged but it was  _ something _ .

IT would have to be enough, Bruce needed to learn to not be so greedy when it came to his... lovers? partners? friends with benefits? He wasn't even sure what to call them nor what they shared behind closed doors.

He had never been more thankful for the rich smell of coffee breaking through his thoughts "Diana"

"Hello, Di" Clark swivelled his chair around as well, following Bruce's example so that he could greet Diana, a bright smile for her an the caffeinated offerings in her hands "You're a real saviour"

Diana rolled her eyes "You're not even working, Kal" she pointed out, bending down to kiss his forehead while she put a cup in Kal's hand and handed the other out to Bruce. 

Bruce knew that if only he had been a little less of an insecure asshole, Diana would have kissed his forehead too before straightening up in all of her glory, just as stunning as he the collective imagery figured her gods to be - just as stunning as Clark, the last son of Krypton. He wasn't too self-conscious about the way he looked if he forgot for a minute about the scars that littered his body, a blatant sign of just how weak he was, but he knew they were on a whole other level of beauty - breathtaking.

Supernatural.

"It's almost over"

"I can't wait"

The fact that Bruce was willing to admit to being ready for the shift to be over was a testament to how tired he must have been: Diana could count on the fingers of one hand all the times Bruce had let his exhaustion transpire "You're going to get some rest before going back to Gotham" the ideal would have been Bruce not going on patrol  _ at all _ , letting one of his kids handle the beat alone, but she knew better than suggesting such a thing: she didn't want to antagonize Bruce to the point he would refuse to lay down for a while too.

"We'll keep you company" Clark butted in before Bruce could protest.

"Don't you have a shift of your own?"

"I've done mine already"

"I'm not on rotation today"

Bruce heaved a deep sigh, taking a sip of the coffee "It doesn't sound like I would be getting much rest if you keep me company"

Diana rolled her eyes "We don't have to necessarily have sex"

"Though, it's always nice when we do" Clark quipped, ducking his head just fast enough that Diana's slap missed him "Not necessary however, just like she said" he added; sometimes Clark thought that Bruce didn't need the reassurance that they enjoyed his company out of bed too, other times the doubt preyed on him: what if Bruce didn't know?

Clark spied the other man over the rim of his cup, studying him as he talked with Diana, the coffee he had accepted barely touched; he was seemingly relaxed despite the tense line of his jaw that spoke of a nasty headache breeding beneath the cowl, unreadable like usual - even unmasked, Bruce had always been imperscrutabile. If only the man had been more open, Clark would have worried a lot less about what went on behind the white lenses of the cowl and the grey-blue eyes they hid; but Bruce was tight-lipped, economical when it came to his words whether he was talking about something personal or work-related.

Even Billionaire Brucie kept his mind locked away - not that he had much of one, according to the tabloids that described him as vapid at best and as outright idiotic at worst; he usually was too drunk to string more than a couple of slurred words together, mostly to compliment some blushing model or to offend some old rich socialite, exploiting the excuse that he was far too inebriated to be held responsible for whatever dislike he let slip past his lips.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Uh?"

"You're staring"

Clark flushed even if he couldn't see the other's judgingly raises eyebrow - he didn't need to, Bruce's tone of voice conveyed it perfectly "Maybe it's because you're pretty to look at"

"I'm wearing the cowl"

"Kinky"

Diana rolled her eyes but there was a smile tugging at the corners of her lips: it was good seeing them so relaxed - Bruce especially.

"That was more information that I wanted to know - you can go" Hal joked, walking into the monitoring room "Barry is back, he is trying to wipe out the snacks cabinet"

"Is Arthur on his way?"

"Yeah, don't worry"

"Do you want me to wait with you?"

"Get out of here, Bats" the man reminded Hal of one of those pink rabbits in the batteries' ads: unstoppable, constantly busy, never running out of energy or powering through fatigue no matter what. Sometimes Hal envied Batman his work ethic a little but then he remembered that the man hardly ever took a day off or had any fun outside of his annoying civilian persona "Seriously, go"

"Right" Clark shot up to his feet before Bruce could drag his feet much longer "Thank you, Hal. Have fun"

"Literally nobody has fun on monitor duty, Supes"

"I do"

Diana linked her arm through Bruce's "You might be the only one who does" and that was fine, she appreciated him as he was -  _ because _ of who he was; everything from his intelligence to his faith in the mission and all that dwelled inbetween made him into one of the men she loved, even when he became bitter an abrasive and tried to push everyone away - even when he made himself difficult to love. But it was worth it - every smile, every caress, every kiss... every little display of affection and tenderness that Bruce let himself show was absolutely worth it. 

Bruce let out a small noise that wasn't really of disapproval, rather of... confusion: he didn't understand how monitor duty could be defined as boring - though, he had to remind himself that of all his fellow heroes, Bruce was the only one who spent a lot of time just monitoring Gotham; sure, he religiously patrolled the city and busted crimes as he flung himself from one rooftop to another but his most important operations were the result of endless hours of stakeouts; of nights spent looking through CCTV footage; of terabytes of data that had to be sorted through.

It was a kind of work he was used to.

That he found soothing, even.

Clark walked on Diana's side, knowing better than making Bruce feel boxed-in - no matter that inbetween himself and Diana, he would have been perfectly safe "At what time should I set the alarm?"

"Are we seriously just sleeping?"

Clark wiggled his eyebrows "That actually depends on how much time you are conceding to resting"

Bruce frowned "I want to be home for dinner" both Diana and Clark knew that Afred's excellent cooking wasn't the reason for that wish - that the reason was his kids who he hadn't seen in far too long outside of the capes, despite the fact that even those who didn't live at the manor frequented it quite often.

"Then yes, just sleeping it is" Diana confirmed, stopping in front of Bruce's quarters so that he could open the door; he was the only one with a biometric scanner, installed when, upon the conception of the Watchtower, Bruce hadn't trusted anyone but himself.

Had it been anyone else besides Clark and Diana determined to put him to bed as if he was some kind of unruly kid, Bruce would have sent them to Hell - even with the other two it was hard to keep his temper in check, no matter that he  _ knew _ they were right.

The first thing Bruce did upon entering his quarters, it was getting rid of the cowl with a little sigh of relief; it didn't instantly cure him of his headache but it took some of the pressure off of his aching temples.

"Ibuprofen?"

He doubted that Diana would even let him give a negative answer to her question and contrary to popular belief, Bruce did know how to pick his battles "Fine" he sighed, starting to divest himself of the suit, one piece after the other; it really wasn't like taking a mask off, there was no suddenly lifted weight from his shoulders - he didn't feel any less like himself because he  _ was _ Batman. At least Clark didn't try to help: clearly, he had learnt that it was far easier to get him naked when he was left to his own devices, his intimate knowledge of the suit making it easy for him to slip out of it with as little fuss as possible.

Just as easy as slipping into bed with them, Clark's chest plastered against his scarred back and Diana's feet tucked between his shins, the pillow she hugged to herself cradled between their chests.

"Love you"

"Love you too"

Bruce just hummed, closing his eyes - fooling himself that everything they said to each other, they said to him too.


End file.
